Change at What Cost ?

No. 13

February 2008 :: Muharram 1429

Successive generations always bemoan the increasing cost of living and recall with nostalgia the "good old days" of low costs when everything was affordable.

The personal attendant of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), Anas ibn Maalik narrates, "The people said, 'O Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), prices have shot up, so fix prices for us.' The Prophet (peace be upon him) replied, "Allah is the one Who fixes prices; Who witholds; Gives lavishly and Provides ..." (Abu Dawud)

In the system of "cause and effect" by the Almighty Allah, we
see that goods and services increase in price through supply and
demand, inflation and economic forces and so on.

Of course, there are the exceptions where new inventions or
technological advances influence production and pricing, and
occasionally there is the sincerity of purpose of a mission where one
ploughs back as much as one can to provide the value of the "good old days".

We did a snap review of advertisements of ten years ago on a few
commodities and contrasted them with today's pricing. We contrasted
this with our fees charged from ten years ago to arrive at our
conclusions which makes interesting reading.

Contrast the above with the comparison of fees charged by SANHA in the same period.

Category

1998 Fee Structure

2008 Feee Structure

% change

Butcheries

R200.00

R 350.00 per month

75

Franchise Restaurants

R300.00

R350.00 per month

17

Cafes / Take Aways

R100.00

R250.00 per month

150

Beef Abattoir

R1.00 per carcass

R2.70 per Carcass

175

Sheep Abattoir

R0.50 per carcass

R1.50 per Carcass

200

Poultry Abattoir

.0025 cents per bird

.005 cents per bird

100

Average % change = 119.5%

Our fees are ploughed back into our services on Halaal to maintain
the lowest licencing costs possible. We do not utilize the licencing
fees for any other projects except for maintaining and developing
Halaal regulatory services.